Why I teach

This partially is a spin off of the midterm because the question came from there. My student teacher asked me how I don't get frustrated with the students. This question came from when we were reading with my two lowest students. We are in the middle of the third grade and these kids are reading at the end of first grade level. So yeah they are behind. My initial answer to her was I just don't. They are trying their hardest.

After I came home and really thought about this question. How do I keep my head and not get frustrated when a kid can't read a word? How do I not get frustrated when they can't sound out a word as simple as want or side? So I really thought about it. The reason I don't get frustrated is because this is exactly why I became a teacher. I didn't become a teacher to have summers off or to have it easy because all my kids could read at grade level. I became a teacher so that I could make a difference in a kids learning. I want to see the light bulb go off and see a kid understand something for the first time. It is the best feeling in the world.

Each year I try to find one kid that I can really really focus on. One kid that I call my project kid. Maybe they have a rough home life and they need just a little bit extra TLC. Maybe they have a really hard time reading and I push them and push them until they are at least a third grade level. This doesn't mean that I ignore my other kids or I don't care about them as much. But usually there is one kid that just needs a little more than the others.

It is the lower kids that struggle that need you. A kid that is in third grade reading at a fifth grade level needs you to learn new knowledge. But school comes easy to them, they don't need to read out loud to you everyday to hear themselves say the words correctly, and they don't need the extra help working on their math or learning to spell. They need you to give them new information, guide them on the few things they are confused on and basically watch them as they grow with very little of your help. The low kids however, need you. They are the reason you are a teacher. They need your help and your knowledge and your expertise in the area to help them get through life. They need you to listen to them read each day so that they know they are saying the words right. They need you to ask them questions as they read the book so that they can pass the comprehension test that goes with the book. They need you to go over their sight words so that words like want and side just become second nature and they don't have to sound them out or even try. They just know them. Your lower kids are going to remember that you took all those extra minutes with them to help them be successful little people. They will remember that you were the only safe place to come to and that you truly cared if they were taken care of. I had a little boy like that last year. He had a bad homelife and I put my everything into making him believe in himself and succeed. By the end of the year I had him only a few months below grade level and he had a positive attitude. He cried the last day of school because he said now no one will care about him. He truly believed that I was the only person that REALLY cared if he was taken care of, nurtured and loved each day. He didn't get this sense at home and trust me the kid wasn't making it up. I took him to the rodeo this summer because even after school was out, I talked to him at least once a week to see how he was and he would come and read with me each week to keep up on his skills. The night of the rodeo I picked him up and while we waited for Dave I made him macaroni and cheese for dinner. He must have said thank you at least ten times and when Dave walked through the door he said Miss Plaza is the best cook you don't know what you are talking about. she makes the best macaroni and cheese. Hello, it was from a box nothing special. But I took them time to make something for him and make sure he was taken care of. This mattered to him and he will always remember those things that I did. Don't get me wrong. Your high kids will remember you too, but they will also remember their fourth grade, fifth grade and sixth grade teachers for the cool things they did. To the kids you spend the extra minutes with because they truly truly need it, they will remember you because you made them important and even if their fourth, fifth and sixth grade teachers are really cool, their third grade teacher was the best and really sticks out in their minds.

It is those students that remind me each day why I became a teacher. That little boy above was always in trouble at school as well and he made each of my days hard to deal with because I was always discipling him or defending him from the principal. But the day she tried to move him from my class to make my life easier so he was away from my other boy that caused trouble (they were horrible together) I cried. I fought with her and said absolutely not will you take him away. I said I made progress with him and no one else is going to get credit or take them time with him like I did. She reminded me how hard it was to have them both and that it would make my class easier and I said no. No matter how hard he made my day, I refused to give him up. At the end of the year it was all worth it. The little boy took forever to leave my room and circled me and then finally broke down in tears. We sat on the couch in my room for an hour after school that day and both cried. I had done my job and he had found some safety and comfort.

So how don't I get frustrated with the kids that struggle? I think about this boy and my little girl this year that started at a kindergarten level and is now in special ed and is also up to a second grade level. I remember that at times, I am all they have to feel safe or feel smart. I am all they can trust to help them because mom is at home and can't or is working two jobs to make sure her child is taken care of and doesn't have time between them to help with homework. I don't get frustrated because it's those kids that made me want to become a teacher and make me love my job everyday.